EU Parliament to elect its president on July 3 in any case - spokesman

STRASBOURG, July 2 (Reuters) - The European Parliament will elect its president on July 3, even if European Union leaders fail to appoint the chair of the EU executive at a summit on Tuesday, a spokesman for the assembly told a news conference.

"There is no way to modify" the decision to hold the vote on July 3, the spokesman said. The Parliament has, however, delayed by a few hours to 2000 GMT on Tuesday the deadline for candidates to submit their applications to participate to the first round of vote on Wednesday.

Many EU leaders have said they would prefer the election of the parliament's president to follow the appointment of the commission' chair. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel)